The Hax and Majluf Model: what is this business management system?

There are many ways to manage an organization. For this, a multitude of models have been designed.

Each of them has a series of pros and cons, so that the company in question can take as a reference the one that suits it best at all times.

This time we are going to focus on the Hax and Majluf model, to find out what makes it different from the others.

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What is the Hax and Majluf model?

Before going into defining the Hax and Majluf model in depth and knowing its peculiarities, we must know its origin. The name comes from its creators, the professor at the MIT Sloan School of Management, Arnoldo Hax and the engineer and professor Nicolás Majluf, both of Chilean origin.

These two authors worked together to carry out a publication in 1984 entitled "Strategic Management: An Integrative Perspective". This volume is part of a group of three works in which various strategies to be carried out by companies are discussed.

In the case of the Hax and Majluf model, One of the references used by its creators to develop this new system was the contingency model, by Paul Lawrence and Jay Lorsch, created in the late 60s. What these authors affirmed is that all the works that make up the organization must be segmented, coordinating between them, and at the same time integrating the total, which is the business.

For the Hax and Majluf model, the creators went further, delving into business strategies oriented to the business itself and to functionality. Next we will see in depth all the elements contained in this system.

After briefly reviewing the origin of the Hax and Majluf model, it is time to delve into how this method works. What these authors raised was the importance of three specific elements and their combination. These elements were the structure of the organization, the culture of the company and the strategies carried out.

The method proposed by the Hax and Majluf model It is used to analyze in a simple way the design of the organization in question and to be able to obtain conclusions about their efficiency, discovering those weakest points in which they can be carried out modifications to achieve an improvement, sometimes quite significant.

One of the keys that this system provides is the idea that the strategies used by the company must be established according to the existing business culture. In other words, the corporation's way of proceeding must be a reflection of its own identity, so that there is congruence between both dimensions.

Another of the characteristics pointed out by the Hax and Majluf model is that the conduct of the members of the company must be taken into account both individually and collectively. As a group, they will have a series of responses to the measures adopted by the organization, which will modulate its climate, in one direction or another.

This approach also warns of the importance of using the appropriate strategies to achieve constant progress in the organization, giving all the members of the same the tools they need to use their full potential, with the consequent return that this has on the company and the achievement of its objectives.

The importance of structure

We have already described some of the general characteristics of the Hax and Majluf model. Now we will delve into the concept of organizational structure, one of the pillars of this system, for these Chilean authors. Mainly, this phenomenon would have to complete two objectives for the correct operation of the company.

The first of these is to establish effective ways to adopt the corresponding strategies in the organization. On the other hand, Said structure must be designed in such a way that all the procedures of the components of the company can be carried out normally., without impediments.

They are simple, but necessary, requirements so that the rest of the factors can work properly. In addition, the Hax and Majluf model speaks of the importance of achieving integration in all members within the organizational structure and make them participate in the strategies adopted, based on the values ​​of the business.

Here another element comes into play, which is the vision of the organization, that is, the objective it has set to achieve in the medium and long term. That vision will be the framework that must be taken into account when selecting and establishing the strategies we were talking about. This is how all the elements are connected, according to the Hax and Majluf model.

Furthermore, the authors dictate that, In order to implement the vision of the company as an element shared by all its members, it is necessary to be precise in the execution of all administrative tasks, so that communication is fluid and everyone has access to information easily and appropriately. The team responsible for human resources will have a special relevance in this mission.

But Not only should the company's official communication channels be taken into account, since informal channels are sometimes just as or more important, and for the question of vision, they are paramount. Therefore, the organization must be aware of these other ways of transmitting information and try to make use of them, thanks to the team members who have access to them.

Once the implementation of the vision is achieved in all the components of the company, and with an organizational climate optimal, the company will be ready to try to achieve the goals that it has set throughout that process.

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The design of the company according to the model of Hax and Majluf

One of the benefits of the Hax and Majluf model is the help it provides to generate an efficient design of the organization. In order to achieve this, you have to go through a series of milestones. The beginning cannot be other than to establish the most basic and necessary company structure, from which we will start. It must contain those essential departments for operation.

In this prototype structure, the hierarchical relationships existing between the different levels of the organization must already be clearly defined. Once you have this basic model, it is time to go deeper and make it progressively more complex.

This process should be carried out by establishing the concrete details that were not included in the first moment, regarding the specific relationships between departments and teams, the processes that each one must carry out, the deadlines that have been agreed for each type of task, and any other question that enriches the definition of this structure.

Therefore, we observe that, according to the criteria of the Hax and Majluf model, What is achieved is to go from a format with a very simple and easy-to-develop structure to a much more complex one, through a progressive approach that facilitates this task.. The opposite case, that is, directly elaborating a complex model, could be much more complicated if we do not start from that first structural level.

We observe a clear advantage of this methodology with respect to other ways of acting, since they make one of the more complicated and sensitive business design procedures in a more affordable and easy-to-use task. approach.

In any case, the process would not end there. Once this detailed structure model is in place, it must be accompanied by the entire list of processes that have to be carried out for the correct operation of the company.. In this list we would be talking about the ways in which communication between members is going to be carried out or how a control is going to be carried out over the different procedures.

Procedures referring to compensation, human resources administration, and of course the planning of any required task would also be included. Obviously, this will not be a static scheme, since the company is an organism in constant evolution and growth.

Therefore, it will be necessary to accommodate this model to the changing reality in which the organization moves. It is another of the indications made by the creators of the Hax and Majluf model.

Bibliographic references:

• Hax, A.C., Majluf, N.S. (nineteen eighty one). Organizational design: A survey and an approach. Operations Research.
• Hax, A.C., Majluf, N.S. (1983). The use of the growth-share matrix in strategic planning. Interfaces.
• Hax, A.C., Majluf, N.S. (1984). The corporate strategic planning process. Interfaces.
• Hax, A.C., Majluf, N.S. (1988). The concept of strategy and the strategy formation process. Interfaces.
• Hax, A.C., Majluf, N.S. (2014). Lessons in strategy: Towards a management of excellence. Editions Universidad Católica de Chile.
• Lawrence, P.R., Lorsch, J.W. (1967). Differentiation and integration in complex organizations. Administrative science quarterly. JSTOR.